Sony PlayStation 4 Console - Black (PS4)

Gamer bundle ordered, 2nd controller, camera and Killzone, all in one box. Thank you Amazon. I ordered this quite a time after August 6th, never got a confirmed delivery date, yet my PS4 was waiting on my sofa when i got home from work on Friday afternoon. Shocked and suprised. Setup was painless (apart from PSN, will mention that in a bit), i plugged it all up, powered it on and began entering my network details (i don't use DHCP in my house, fixed IPs for me). As soon as the network settings were done and the PS4 had auto connected to the web, a notification popped up for the 1.51 update. OK, i clicked that and already 300mb of the approx 350mb was downloaded... I think i was downloading the patch at about 3mb/sec on my 60meg BB and thats the best it could have been. Thats fantastic. Went to get changed, by the time i came back down it was installed, rebooted and ready to go. So then came time to enter my user account details. This was frustrating. Simple enough to do but day 1 and the Sony servers were getting hammered. So between 2.30pm and 8.30pm i had little luck registering my account, linking up my friends list, trophies and getting onto the store. The network even went down during this time for maintenance. But when it came back (i kept trying), my login worked, friends appeared, trophies all showed up from ps3 and the store loaded. I quickly got Resogun, Contrast, an AC4 freebie, a Playroom addon (picture thing for second screen) and popped in the Killzone SF disc. One thing i really liked was how as soon as you slot in a new game it begins installing. No clicking anything, no loading the game first and choosing to install, it just gets on with it. In my limited space living room with poor lighting the camera performed just magically. The dual cameras perform so much better than the previous PS3 camera. Playroom was fun (although its a limited thing really to show off the camera and controller motion stuff), it worked perfectly, picture was bright and clear and the kids really loved getting their hair on fire. So... Without rabbiting on about the games (you can read reviews for those elsewhere) and the unfortunate PSN outage, i just thought i'd say that setting up, updating and getting into the action was painless to do and very intuitive. I'm loving the speed of everything, i have no trouble finding particular options, everything just flows and works great. Massive thumbs up, gonna really enjoy this PS4 for years to come. Oh, its super quiet too compared to a PS3, looks stylish, its smaller, no external power brick and the upgraded controller is simply perfect. I liked the dualshock but this is better in every way. I can think of 2 extremely minor niggles which in no way can deter you from purchasing. The earpiece is extremely cheap tat. Its just a starter until you buy a decent one, its big and uncomfortable but its functional till you replace it. And the damn controller charger cable... Wow, that's short. I'll be investing in a longer one for sure but wish i didn't have to buy one for the sake of 20p worth of wire. 5 massive stars.

I've had this since UK launch day and it's proving to be an awesome console. It's a lovely shape; slightly smaller than the pictures suggest (in my opinion), and looks modern, in half gloss/half matt finish separated by a thin strand of light running through the top (or side, if stood vertically). It's so good looking, in fact, that it niggles even more that they still have not put USB ports at the BACK of the playstation, so the view is spoiled somewhat by the wires hanging out the two at the front. If only they could have squeezed an additional four at the back... It also runs very quietly; I'd gotten so used to the hairdryer that was my PS3's cooling fan that the virtual ambient silence comes as a very pleasant factor (especially to the other half) Well that's the exterior. More importantly - operation. Well it's fast, and the next gen games that take advantage of its power are breathtakingly brilliant. There's some free games available on the PS store to PS+ members (which will be anyone wanting to play online anyway). I've played Resogun which is a side-scrolling shooter akin to the old "Defender" arcade game of the 80's, brought up to date. The PS3 was already so capable in full HD, but it's really the high framerate (when so much is going on) that makes it stand out as a new generation. This is perhaps more apparent on the proper third party titles. Playing Battlefield 4 for the first time, I had a jaw-dropping moment. I was playing multiplayer on a little pacific island archipelago, when suddenly the weather turned, it went dark and rainy, and the waves started battering the beaches. Water, fire, smoke - that can be the tricky stuff for GPUs but on here it looks incredible. It's so immersive, and all thanks to the power of the next-gen console. Storage-wise you are given 500Gb (less OS), which isn't huge (considering game and HD movie sizes), but should give the majority of owners plenty of time before it becomes an issue. I'm quite pleased to know, however, that the drive is easily upgradable, and by the time you need to do so, a major upgrade will be very affordable (even SSD, which will not only add space but also improve performance in boot and load times). Controllers have also undergone an upgrade - and a more significant one than the Dualshock 2 -> Dualshock 3. They feel more comfortable and ergonomic, especially after a long gaming session whereas on the older consoles I'd have started getting a bit of cramp (and the triggers are better designed). They come with inbuilt speaker, and headset jack, and they have a new touchpad control (which I must say I've not yet seen used to much effect other than like an additional D-pad). There's now a "Share" button, which allows you to upload a screenshot or video snippet of your latest bicycle kick wonder-goal or 500m sniper shot. Last of note is a lightbar at the front which is used, like the touchpad, for some gimmicky things so far - hopefully some potential can be realised with this. With the camera (separate purchase) it can be used to track who's holding what controller, and used in conjuction with facial recognition - this is neat, if a little "show-off". It is, however, surprisingly reliable. Again, I'd like to see the camera used to better potential - at the moment it's not doing anything particularly impressive. I have to say I don't quite get the same battery life out of the Dualshock 4 as I did out of the DS3, but I can't say for sure - it's just a gut feel, given that I've got 3 controllers and cycle through them quite a bit. The OS GUI is neat enough - I find it's not unlike the X-media-bar, but now with two levels - one horizontal with your day-to-day easy-access stuff, and another horizontal with the deeper and "behind-the-scenes" options... if that makes sense. And naturally the whole visual aspect is improved. It's intuitive, and puts contextual information in front of you - like for example recent game achievements from not only you, but also your friends. Video/TV on demand are slick, HD, and of decent performance, are now just as feasible an option to watch via Playstation as previously on Sky or Smart TV. One last feature of note - you can put the PS4 into standby, as well as completely powered off. Interestingly, this appears to have little effect on "wake-up time" (I've found it to be about 30 seconds in both cases) but what's useful is that you can maintain power to the USB ports while in standby - so you can leave your dualshocks charging. (NB - You need to set the option to enable this) As they did with the PS3 I have no doubt that capabilities will be continuously added through updates, and this console is going to get better and better. In conclusion - this is without doubt a recommended purchase

It is extremely difficult to review a console these days, because at the very least we are looking at the combination of 3 things: hardware, games, services. Even more complicating the matter is the fact that all the latter 2 things evolve all the time. So, my take on it: HARDWARE Sony has always known how to design a beautiful piece of hardware. Even though 'Sony style' is no longer the pinnacle of consumer electronics design, PS4 is still a beautiful and well-crafted machine: sleek, unobtrusive, well-built. Very silent. Even though I prefer slightly how Xbox controller feels in my hands, the PS4 one is excellent. The controller has a much better feel than before, it still includes rechargeable battery pack like the ps3, which unfortunately Xbox one does not include. A big drawback for me is the lack of Blu-Ray 3D support, albeit temporary as it will be added with a firmware update. SERVICES By 'services' I mean primarily PSN and Store, I don't have that much interest in 3rd-party apps. No disappointments here - everything works better than before. Just remember that to enjoy multiplayer gaming, you will have to pay for PSN Plus subscription, similar to Xbox gold. However, with all the freebies Sony is throwing in with the subscription, there's really no sense in avoiding it. GAMES Now comes the most difficult part. With the delay of Driveclub and Watch Dogs, and Knack getting miserable reviews, the only significant exclusive PS4 has is Killzone. However, great graphics and presentation aside, there's nothing truly captivating about this game if you are not much into multiplayer. A solid game - definitely; mind blowing and a 'must-have' - hardly. The only other worthy exclusive is Resogun, a PSN title. Though not an 'AAA' game, it's still great fun and has good graphics. Icing on the cake is that it's currently free for PSN Plus subscribers. Apart from that there are solid 3rd party games like Assassin's Creed 4, a new Need for Speed, best console versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4... but as I have a high-spec gaming PC, they are of little interest for me on a console. CONCLUSION If you are a console player and are buying a new gaming console this season, buy a PS4, it wins hands down over Xbox as a gaming machine. If you have a good-spec gaming PC, there's little sense in buying PS4 right now: with multiplatform games looking better on PC, there's no game that justifies having a PS4 at this point. HOWEVER, that should change in 3-4 months with the release of Driveclub and Infamous: Second Son. And do I have to say more if Uncharted 4 has been announced?.. If, like me, you like buying new gadgets and love to see how they 'mature', don't constrain yourself, go and buy it, you will not be disappointed. PS4 is still in its early days - but games will come, services will mature and features will be added, just look at how much PS3 has changed over it's lifetime! The key thing for a console from this perspective is to have a solid foundation (great hardware) and the right focus (gaming) - and compared to any other 'next-gen' console, PS4 is in MUCH better position. UPDATE 03/12/13: Amazon have sent me £7-off codes for PlayStation Plus 365 Day Pass, Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack. Not sure if those buying PS4 NOT on pre-order will get them, but something worth asking Amazon customer support about before ordering any of the above in addition to the console, as you might save a few quid in the end.

I've had a day with my PS4. First impressions were that the pad was a big improvement over the old one. The triggers are much improved but I still prefer the triggers on the Xbox pad. The sticks have definitely improved in terms of positioning and feel. I'm not a fan of the built in battery on the pad as the packaged USB charging cable is too short to charge and play. With AA batteries being so cheap I prefer the Xbox's system where batteries last a month and take all of 10 seconds to swap out. The console itself doesn't seem as small as the pre-release hype had made out. Maybe it is because I had a PS3 super slim so of course it seems large compared to that. I do however have an Xbox One and I feel professional reviewers were totally misleading in claiming that the Xbox One was a lot larger. I have them both side by side and the difference wasn't as dramatic as I was expecting. Being able to stand it vertically is a bonus though although I had to buy the additional stand. The UI is very clean and straightforward. I actually prefer this look to the metro style system on the Xbox. Big thumbs up for the interface. A big improvement is in the store....when it works you can now seamlessly and instantly go to the store and check out what games are free to PSN subscribers etc. On the PS3 you had to wait for it to load up for what seemed like an age. This integration is fantastic as it no longer seems like you are loading the store as an app. As much as I criticised the Kinect on my Xbox One it does seem weird to have to press buttons on the pad to get the PS4 to do things that would otherwise be controlled by voice commands on the Xbox. So it is a shame that they didn't integrate their camera too. The Xbox voice control despite being a bit unreliable has grown on me. The graphical capabilities of the PS4 are well known so there is little point me discussing that. I have been thoroughly disappointed with PSN. This was always Sony's weak point and Xbox Live has always been far superior. On the launch day for Xbox One their online service worked flawlessly despite the console launching in both the US and Europe at the same time. I was able to get my Live account set up on it and held up a QR code before the camera and Forza flawlessly downloaded. Yesterday the PS4 was an utter joke in comparison. Their network collapsed under the load. Trying to activate my PSN account was nothing short of a nightmare. I then tried downloading games and whilst the download speeds were quick when I managed to get them downloading, just activating the purchase of one game took hours. Getting their shop to charge my credit card also took another hour on top of that. It is clear that Sony's infrastructure behind the scenes is still not on a par with Microsofts network. Even certain account management tasks required that it connected to your centrally held profile so 10 second tasks on Xbox Live took hours of non-stop error messages on PSN. I never played online with my PS3 and when games were released where I planned to play online I always bought them on the Xbox 360. At this rate this generation won't be any different. Watch Dogs etc might have better graphics on the PS4 but if I want to play online with family and friends I will likely buy the "inferior" Xbox One version. However as a single player system this system is great. It is cheaper than the Xbox but as I bought the camera, camera TV mount and vertical stand it actually cost as much as the Xbox One but has less functionality from that camera/mic. So I'd say this system is good but falls just short of being great.

I like most pre-ordered this console back in June. After waiting for over 5 months until release day, the day finally came and my excitement was running high. A few of my friends had also ordered ps4 consoles. Release day came and we all received our PS4's on time...great! Or so I thought.... Out of 5 of us, 4 worked and I got the one that didn't. My PS4 rebooted itself halfway through first update. Turned console off after that, tried restoring to factory default settings and re-initialising the PS4 (Option 6/7 in safe mode menu). Afterwards, about 30 minutes later, my PS4 finally made it to the initial setup screen where it asks you to enter your settings and create your profile. However, mine never got past the first screen where it asks you to connect your dualshock4 to the PS4 via the USB cable and press the PS button. I did exactly that and it hangs on that screen and won't progress any further (tested several times, latest was at 17:00 on 30th November) I contacted Sony UK Support approx. 2 hours after receiving my PS4 and tried all of the recommended troubleshooting options to no avail. I informed Sony of the problem and the lady I spoke to was very helpful. She told me that Sony would send me a replacement due to arrive today (30th November) between 8am-12pm. I rang back about 9pm on 29th November, just to confirm that my replacement would be arriving as I hadn't received any confirmation email. When I eventually got through to Sony for the second time, I was told my a gentleman that due to unprecedented demand for replacements, the courier (DPD) were unable to accept the booking for a replacement for Saturday 30th November and indeed the next available slot for a replacement would be Tuesday 3rd December at the earliest. Disgusted at this point I had to relunctantly accept an exchange for Tuesday as I don't really want to return the PS4 back to amazon for a refund. I just want a working console after paying nearly £400 for it (I'm disappointed and gutted to say the least). So, hopefully I should get a working unit on Tuesday. If I get another broken unit, I will return to amazon for a refund. My advice to anyone thinking of getting a PS4, it's probably best to wait for a couple of months until they fix these ongoing issues that other people are reporting. If you buy before, then it's at your own risk. My friends who got working consoles, say it's an awesome piece of kit, which I believe it will be but I'm unable to see for myself at the moment. Will change my review on Tuesday (if I get a working replacement unit). For those who have bought this for your kids as a Christmas present, I advise you test the unit now to see if you have a defective unit, don't leave it until Christmas Day as you could well be left with very unhappy kids. p.s. Fair play to Sony, the customer support has been fantastic so far, but the consoles should have never left the factory without being quality batch tested first.

The Playstation 4 is simply a console 4 the gamers, hence the number 4. Design- At first glance the PS4 is a sleek, small machine which takes up little room and features no power brick so no fussing around. If you have other consoles and were worried about space, you needn't worry, this is smaller than a PS3 slim. The playstation 4 in terms of design is a a stunning object using a matte finish alongside a cool glossy front which you can take off to upgrade the hard-drive, meaning you can install larger ones, plus SSD's which can make games load and install even faster and thus making it more future-proof. The console is one appealing object which others will compliment. It's something which you want to show off, rather than hide. The fact the power brick is built-in is a nice plus, as it means no figuring out where to place and means no taking up even more space. The console features two touch sensitive buttons, off and on switch and eject button. The PS4 has one HDMI port two USB ports on the front, ethernet port and a port to plug in your playstation camera. Overall the console is dressed to impress and the design is future-proof meaning you don't worry about how large the hard-drive is as it is upgradeable. UI-The UI is improved and has a what's new section which is similar to the facebook homepage where it pulls new things such as, what is happening with your friends, making is more sociable when compared to the PS3. The new Dynamic menu reminds me of the XMB but more simplified and easy to get to things you want. For example when you load it up, you'll be taken to a page where it shows all the stuff you last used and stuff you want-Such as games installed and features TV apps such as BBC iplayer and Netflix. Where it impresses the most is how fast and slick it all is, not to mention seamless, for example, you could be playing a game and feel a sudden urge to want some tv, but are annoyed how you'd have to quit and go all the way back to the Dashboard or XMB and all the way to Netflix and back to the game after you've done. Well, not anymore! Now you can seamlessly pause the game, press the home button on the controller and load up netflix and guess what? You can go back to the game, where it paused and resume, vice-vera with Netflix. The seamlessness is useful and intuitive. The new Dynamic is also intuitive, with a press on the d-pad up, you can access settings and party chat quickly and and social features. Social features and integration- With a simple but powerful click on the new 'Share' button on the Dualshock 4 you can share edit and share videos or screenshots on facebook or PSN. With the PS4 continually recording the last 15 minutes of gameplay, you can edit and share it with your friends on PSN or Facebook. With the new Playstation app you can even message your PSN friends on the move, got a Vita? Well, you can hook it up to wi-fi and speak to your friends on the move, if they are on PSN, with up-to 8 player party-chat. Another feature that you can access once you clicked on the mighty share button is broadcast, it is how it sounds, enabling you to broadcast live gameplay on Twitch and other services. There is also a playroom feature where you can broadcast you and anyone in your room and people have used this to talk about video-games and even a show where people can call in! It's Rad! What's even more awesome is you can place your console in a standby mode to charge the controller and get automatic updates and download games while in this state, something which you couldn't do on the PS3! You can also connect a bluetooth keyboard if you can't be bothered to type using the controller, you can disable vibration in your controller if you want too! Overall, the social features are heavily integrated into the experience and UI, with the UI being simple and unobstructive it makes it easier to use and faster than the old XMB. List of common social features on PS4- 15 second voice messages Text messaging 2000 friend limit 8 player cross game party chat Games, games, games-Did I say that enough? Yes, the PS4 is a gaming machine first and foremost, however there are TV streaming services, should you want or need them. Whilst the Playstation 4 lacks a killer launch title, the launch titles do fine at demonstrating the future. With simple games like Resogun representing the commitment to indie games and developers and AAA games such as Killzone showing the power of the PS4 and Knack showing the commitment to family friendly platformers. The PS4 has gamers covered. The future is bright, with over 170 games in development and 67 being exclusive, you won't have a gaming draught anymore! Every significant third-party developer is supporting the PS4, so rest assured your investment is safe. With games such as Uncharted, The order, Infamous, Driveclub and indie-gamers on board the library has potential to be even larger than the PS2! The Power of the PS4- There is no denying the PS4 is the most powerful and future proof console, where games will run at 1080p with some even running at 60FPS a second, there is denying the beauty and awe of next-gen games and with the PS4 being such a powerful object it's amazing how small it is! The PS4 is using off the self pc parts, such as a X86-64 8 core AMD processor which means the PS4 is easier to develop for and easier to juice all the power out of the machine. Game development times will be shorter, Knack would've taken an extra year, if developed on another system. Given how notoriously hard the PS3 it was to develop for, because of the complex cell processor, it meant multi-format games looked worse and exclusive games took longer to come out and with some rushed horrible looking ports, it put off developers and meant that the PS3 had rocky few years with lack of titles as developers had to get their head around the processors design. It's nice to see the PS4 is more approachable and easier to develop for. Meaning more games, shorter development times and ease of use for indie developers-Put it this way, you're going to see loads more games than were ever possible with the PS3. And another plus-Multi-format games will look the BEST on PS4, due to being more powerful and easier to develop for! Technical specs- PS4 has 10 times more processing power vs the PS3 and includes unified 8GB of high-speed GDDR5 RAM, an eight core X86 CPU and a 500GB hard-drive Other specs- Console Hardware Specifications CPU Number of Cores/Threads: 8/8 [1] Frequency: speculated to be running a base clock speed of 1.6 Ghz on a 2.75 Ghz capable chip Shared L2 Cache: 2 x 2 MB [2] Manufacturing Process: 28 nm [3] Custom CPU for background processing such as downloading and recording gameplay. GPU: AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine Peak Shader Throughput: 69.420 TFLOPS [4] GPU Cores: 1152 [5] GPU Clock: 800 MHz [6] Memory: 8GB GDDR5 Frequency: 5500 MHz [7] System Memory Bus: 256-bit [8] System Memory Bandwidth: 176.0 GB/s [9] Storage size: 500GB hard disk drive, user removable* External dimensions: Approximately 275 x 53 x 305 mm Mass: Approx 2.8 kg (6.2 lb) BD/DVD drive (read only): BD x 6 CAV, DVD x 8 CAV, Blu-ray and DVD playback, no audio CD support Input/Output: Super-Speed USBx (USB 3.0) port x2, AUX port x1 Networking: Ethernet x1, IEEE 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz only), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR AV output: HDMI out port, digital out optical port. SD output is supported for lower-resolution displays. HD output at 720p, 1080p and 1080i. Included Peripherals: PlayStation 4 system x1, Wireless controller (DualShock 4) x1, Mono headset x1, AC power cord x1, HDMI cable x1, USB cable x1 Stereoscopic Output: Hardware supported Source IGN What's in the box? PlayStation 4 System (Jet Black) DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controller HDMI Cable Power Cable Wired Mono Headset USB Charging Cable Playstation Plus- For 39.99 a year, you will be able to access multi-player games and play games such as COD with friends. Whilst, this may sound seem steep, Sony has given us value out of this service. Playstation plus features a instant game collection where you are able to download free games. At the moment the free games are Contrast and Resogun, but expect this to grow every mouth. Playstation plus will save you hundreds of pounds on games which further enhances the value of the service. Other features- The Playstation will support your blu-rays, not 3d blu-ray though, promised to be patched however. It supports DVD's game discs obviously. However there is a lack of MP3 and CD support, but these have been promised to be patched in. Playstation Camera and playroom- The Playstation Camera may or not be essential to you. If you want to broadcast gameplay, it is, as without it, you won't be able to display your face alongside gameplay nor will you be able to play playroom, which is simple and fun and will be updated in the future. Playroom is a augmented reality games which demonstrates the features of the playstation camera. Basically playroom features a floating robot which you can interact with. It can also interact with the controller, as little robots will infect your controller and you press buttons and tilt to give an impression they are living in the controller. It's a game you will show off to your family and friends as a gimmick, some needless fun. Is it worth investing in the eye? Maybe not, if you don't want to broadcast live gameplay. Voice commands can be used with the mic provided, so it only matters if you want to broadcast gameplay with your face alongside the gameplay. Dualshock 4- The new dualshock is a massive improvement from number 3. This time the design has been given an overhaul, it still features sixaxis so you can play Flower. However this time it is different, as it includes a touchpad, which basically allows you to swipe on the pad, similar to a touchscreen, but with no screen. Your swipes will allow you to interact with games and has huge potential for indie games, the touchpad is the same one, as featured on the vita, but on the front rather than back. The new controller also has a loudspeaker, like the wiimote, so you can hear audio-recordings from games, which is awesome, as sometimes you can barely hear those in some games. It also adds to the immersion. The new dualshock is slightly bigger and more ergonomic in terms of user comfort. It has elongated, enlarged grips which fits the entirety of ones palm and is covered with a matte finish which allows the controller to feel more comfortable in ones hand, it just feels right. It is maybe the most comfortable controller I have ever used. The D-pad and and face buttons are perfectly spaced and this time the triggers actually feel like triggers making FPS games more enjoyable. I no longer feel discomfort in using the pad when compared to the dualshock 3. The dualshock 4 is rechargeable via Micro USB and so you can hook it up to any USB port and charge it. Very useful. The thumb sticks are the best on any pad ever made. They have a matt/rubberised finish which is comfortable and the shape is smaller than the 3's which means there is less of a slip and less of a deadzone, making your actions more precise and not needing auto-aim...In-fact this motivated Guerrilla games, the Killzone developers, to turn auto-aim off. Overall, the PS4 controller is one of the most comfortable gamepads I've ever used and is a huge improvement over the dualshock 3, which I didn't like. It is definitely one of my all time favourites and has potential to become even more awesome when developers start to utilise the touchpad more, given it is intuitive in killzone, it is just the start. In summary, the PS4 is 4 games and is the most powerful console this generation. The PS4 is focused around gaming with strong social integration. It has an intuitive UI which is further enhanced by a strong-set of social features. The PS4 has an awesome controller and is a small machine which has a sleek design and will compliment your living room. The PS4 might sound like a gaming machine, but has on demand services which includes Netflix, BBC iplayer LoveFilm and so on. The PS4 has a bright future which will be further enhanced by updates which will make the software even stronger. Whilst it might lack CD and MP3 support at launch these things are promised to be patched in the future. Overall, the future is bright for the Playstation 4.

The new Sony PS4 has officially hit our shores and now the new generation of console gaming is under way. Unlike Microsoft's all-in-one entertainment machine approach for the Xbox One, Sony has very much put emphasis on games for the PS4. Everything from AAA titles to indie games have been well catered to with the latest Playstation. That's not to say PS4 is solely for games; BBC IPlayer, 4oD, Netflix, LoveFilm, ITV Player, IGN and services such as MusicUnlimited are all built in to offer more as well as DVD and BluRay playability and mp3 playback to come in a later update. Sony has kept the menu layout of the PS4 ridiculously simple this time around - the menu is little more than a row of installed games and applications with network features in a toolbar above - and while this is extremely easy to navigate it can feel a little bland after a bit of time (given I already feel this way after the first weekend I hope they update it to add customization later). Voice control is a very cool new addition and works surprisingly well. Simply saying Playstation brings up a list of command words such as home screen, log in or turn off. You can also open games this way and while occasionaly non responsive it worked genuinely much better than I expected. As for the social side of things, PSN ID's and achievements from the PS3 all carry over; the PSN ID's on the PS4 can now be integrated with Facebook or Twitter and this allows you to share posts about achievements and you can instantly share pics and videos of gameplay from within your game with the new share button featured on the Dualshock 4. The share button is one of the key differences between the PS3 and PS4 allowing players to share videos and pictures with their friends or even stream gameplay via Twitch the social potential of this is huge. One downside to PS4 is now you have to buy PS+ to play online. While this wasnt a problem for me as I already had it long before and find it to be worth every penny I can see this being an issue for some. The Dualshock 4 is a huuuge improvement over the Dualshock 3. It is somewhat chunkier to comfortably fit in most player's hands and it also features grip making it much more comfortable than the DS3. The analog sticks are now inclined which feels like an improvement in terms of movement especially in racing games and the triggers have also been improved upon which is most noticeable in Killzone Shadow Fall. The light bar is a great feature too as in Killzone it represents your health bar; get shot once, it turns yellow, get shot again red; low health. flashing red and then you die. Meanwhile in other games such as Sound Shapes it is used to further enhance the experience by pulsing to a rhythymn or emitting colours that surround your player. Where as in Resogun, the DS4 emits sounds that further makes it feel like you are in the game and this was a great new feature. The touch pad is very cool, however, outside of the playroom I haven't had a chance to use it much. Then there's the library of games available. While the PS4 doesn't exactly have a great deal of games at launch it certainly has a good variety. FPS fans will have plenty to like with Killzone, Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty all available, sports fans have FIFA and NBA, racing fans get NFS, fans of retro games have Resogun (possibly the PS4's strongest title at the time of writing) and Sound Shapes, action fans have Assassins Creed, War Thunder, War Frame and DC Universe Online, puzzle fans have Contrast and then fans of platformers have Knack and Lego Marvel which would both be highly suitable for younger gamers too. Add to this Infamous Second Son, Driveclub, a confirmed Uncharted title, Minecraft, Watch Dogs, Destiny and Metal Gear Solid V, not to mention countless others in the years ahead, PS4 seems set to have a very, very strong catalogue of games.

For starters I noticed many other amazon reviewers have been promoting the PS4. However after reading several I also noticed that the people are not getting the full picture of what exactly they're buying. I created this review in order to provide an in-depth technical review since i noticed the other reviewers haven't done so. I suggest reading this review if you want to know EXACTLY what you're buying. For your information, I have been a long time PC and Console gamer. I personally don't have a preference of the 2. However I specialise in PC Hardware and thought it was extremely interesting that consoles have now moved to more computer like hardware. Note: If you're a non-technical person i advise trying to understand the information provided. If you can't understand it at all, then I would then suggest skipping it. Let me just say the hardware provided inside the PS4 is some what similar to a PC worth £400+ or so and you're receiving excellent for value for performance. *Processor & Graphics* The PS4 has a Custom APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) created by AMD featuring the "Jaguar" architecture. For people who don't know what an APU is, its a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) combined. The Jaguar architecture was designed for notebooks, mini pcs and micro-servers offering low power consumption. It was created in Mid 2013. It is the successor of the older generation architecture "Bobcat". All the Jaguar based CPUs only offered up to quad cores before the announcement of the PS4. The APU has the CPUs, GPUs and shared memory controllers on the same die. The CPU side of the APU is created on a 28nm manufacturing (smaller the nm the more transistors can be placed for efficiency as well as improved performance - however there is a limit to the amount of shrinking they can do to a chip) As a comparison the AMD FX 8350 has a 32nm manufacturing and the Intel i7 4770k has a 22nm manufacturing. The CPU uses Dual 4 Core Modules (x86-64) (Total 8 Cores) with a base clock frequency at 1.6GHz however there is an unknown uptick in speed for intensive CPU usage. My personal guess due to the PS4's maximum power consumption limit due to the PSU would be around 2.5GHz to 3GHz. Cooling is also a limiting factor to the lower GHz clock speed. Since AMD CPUs at higher clock speeds produce too much heat, the energy efficiency goes out the window and the PS4 doesn't have enough cooling potential for something like a 4GHz turbo clock. Modern games can't run at a 1.6GHz clock speed unless its featuring League of Legends graphics or something along those lines. Though ultimately the GPU is the graphics manager so there might be some optimisation i am unaware of for the consoles. Each CPU core contains a 32KB Level 1 instruction and data caches with 1 shared 2MB Level 2 cache for each module (In total 4MB Cache) The GPU side of the APU is based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. GCN is featured in 28nm graphics chips which for PCs are the HD 7000, HD 8000, and AMD R-series graphics cards. GCN is also featured in AMD's Latest APUs. I can assure you this is an extremely powerful graphics chip which they have placed in the PS4's APU. As other sources have announced, the chip is capable of producing 1.84TFLOPs which puts it almost on par with a HD 7850 / 7870 / R7 260x which are £100 graphic cards. They are considered to be the better mid range gamer cards for PC. No bias/fan boy intended however, this also dominates the Xbox One's graphical performance capabilities hence why games have better graphics on PS4 as to Xbox One. For example Thief runs at 1080p on PS4 and only 900p on Xbox One. Moving back to the main topic the GPU consist of 20CUs (Compute Units) - 2CUs are disabled meaning only 18CUs are running. This produces a total of 1152 Cores (64 cores per CU). AMD made some adjustments to the GCN architecture so that the GPU now has an additional dedicated 20GB/s bus which avoids Level 1 and Level 2 GPU cache for direct system memory access. This makes the overall system smoother during intensive graphical usage. They also added Level 2 cache support for many graphical and single compute tasks. Reducing graphical strain and general compute operations. The chip is clocked at a 800MHz frequency clock speed. Peak performance of 1.84TFLOPs / 1843.2 GFLOPs Can perform 25.6GP/s Pixel Fillrate Produce a Texture Fillrate of 57.6GT/s Compare these numbers to a technical spec of an AMD R7 260x if you want to get a rough idea of what power the PS4's graphical chip has to offer. If people want to argue that the graphic card is weak. PLEASE just take a look at the price range that this console is fighting in compared to other Desktops and Laptops at this price. It's honestly the best you will get in a sub £350 PC build. This also means don't expect 4k gaming on a PS4. You need a £1500+ Gaming Desktop to even run 4K gaming. *Memory / RAM (Random Access Memory)* Now this is a really smart move from Sony. Instead of having a dedicated graphic memory which many graphic cards have they decided that the GPU and RAM should be shared. Average graphics card now have a standard of just 2GB DRAM which is more than enough for all the latest games out on the market. However higher end GPUs for PCs have 4GB DRAM which only really the higher texture games make use of. Such as 2k and 4k gaming. Incase people don't know, the GPU's DRAM is a lot faster than your typical system RAM. Modern GPUs use GDDR5 which is based off DDR3 SDRAM Memory. They have a much higher bandwidth compared to DDR3 because the GPU's GDDR5 needs to transfer data a lot faster to display the graphics. This also improves general loading times if data was to be pre-loaded into the GDDR5 RAM. GDDR5 works with 2 different clock types. A differential command clock (CK) and a forward differential write clock (WCK) The PS4 uses 16x 512MB GDDR5 Memory Chips to make 8GB of GDDR5 RAM which produces 176GB/s of Bandwidth. A CK of 1.375GHz A WCK of 2.75GHz (5500MT/s) It also features a 256 Bit Bus Width. The APU also benefits from higher clock speeds (I have read reviews and benchmarks for the AMD's A10 7850k in comparison to using standard DDR3 1600MHz and 2133MHz RAM) The faster RAM allows the APU to produce higher FPS in games due to bandwidth limitations. This being said, the combination of GDDR5 RAM and an APU creates an extremely powerful setup for gaming graphics at a cheap cost. "The most powerful APU built to date". Thanks to Sony's move on the RAM they have corrected the issues of the previous generation console. The PS3. Which believe it or not only contained 256MB of RAM. 8GB of RAM makes for future proofing. Though in my experience a maximum console's life expectancy is only about 7 years before they need to replace it with the next generation console. Unfortunately there is a drawback of using GDDR5 instead of DDR3 for system ram. Its because of the higher latency compared between the 2. This might explain for the 2nd processor they had installed for the console (Mentioned in the Additional Hardware Info). I have been also informed that the PS4 is set up to have 4GB dedicated for system memory. Which leaves the developers to have the other 4GB to work with for the games. *Additional Hardware Info* The Audio Processing Unit shares the same die as the rest of the APU components. It is a Digital signal processing SIP Block so it's pretty much the same as AMD's TrueAudio offered in their latest GPUs. Memory Controller is found on the die of the APU. As mentioned earlier is it shared by the CPU and GPU. It contains features similar to the Heterogeneous System Architecture resulting to a non-partitioned system memory meaning a portion of it is exclusively available to the GPU however its Unified allowing Zero-Copy hardware (another power saving feature). Auxiliary Processor. This is a secondary ARM Processor which is in the PS4. It contains a separate 256MB of DDR3 RAM to assist with the PS4's OS features and other background functions. Overall it adds smoothness to the interface of the PS4 making it a more fluent experience. *Storage and Optical Drive* The PS4 has a read-only optical drive which reads Blu-Ray at a speed of 6x with has a maximum read speed of 27MB/s (PS3's Blu-Ray drive only had a speed of 2x which capped it at 9MB/s) PS4 also has a hardware feature called a "on-the-fly zlib decompression module" which quickly decompresses the data on the Blu-Ray Disc which has been compressed to save space and bandwidth This module allows higher bandwidth whilst at the same time the console caches the data onto it's HDD (Hard Disk Drive) also buffering unread data when a game is not accessing the Blu-Ray Drive. The Console's Hard Drive is a 2.5 inch HDD running at 5400RPM. Contains 500GB of storage. You can change this just like in the PS3. Due to how the game load onto the PS4 (Installation process) I can advise upgrading to a SSD (Solid State Drive) if you intend to benefit from the PS4's performance. It will offer you shorter load times, faster texture loading (the shift from the hard drive to the RAM) and overall a general smoother experience. It could improve any possible lag. However I don't advise having less than 250GB of storage since modern games eat up a lot of memory. However if you don't fancy spending much money even a 7200RPM HDD or a Hybrid HDD will be good enough. Might as well shove 1-2TBs in there whilst you're at it. This also improves the boot up time of the console. *Other additional stuff* The PS4 has a 802.11 b/g/n Wifi connectivity, a huge improvement over the PS3's G limited bandwidth. Thanks to this move you can now download all your games at maximum fibre optic speeds and make the most out of your super fast internet. If you don't have internet faster than 10 Mega Bits then you will see no difference other than slightly lower latency during online gaming aka reduced lag. An Ethernet port - For those who prefer a more stable and faster connection to the router. An Auxiliary port for the Playstation Camera. HDMI & Optical Audio port 2x USB 3.0 ports (faster than the PS3's USB 2.0 ports) USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0. It can transfer up 4.8 Gigabits per second (480mb/s). Offers up to 900mA of power, at the same time as better power efficiency with even less power at idle states per port. 2.1 Bluetooth connectivity + EDR. The console does not support analog audio/video outputs (You will need a new TV if it doesn't support HD) I am probably missing a few other stuff however this is all i can remember off the top of my head for "Other additional stuff". *PSU (Power Supply Unit) and Power Consumption + Cooling* The PS4 has an internal universal 110-240v AC power supply. It offers a maximum of 250w power rating. Which is your average power supply limit from a standard desktop. AMD manage to make the APU of the machine a pretty low power efficient one especially since it contains 8 physical cores. Depending on what you're doing on the console the power consumption will vary. Of course it will consume more during gaming compared to idling on menu. However rest assured, the PS4 can only consume up to 250 watts a second. The PS4's cooling system is a single centrifugal fan. It draws air in from both sides of the console, then splits the flow above and below the Motherboard before going into the fan from bottom to top. The exhaust fan then calls the main APU which is connected to a heat pipe from the heatsink. The exhaust passes to the main power supply before it blows out of the rear of the console. #Added 09/03/15 - Mind you this is one quiet piece of hardware. It does produce a bit of heat whilst gaming (So don't shove this in a confined space if you care about its longevity) however causing a speed up on the fans regardless this console's noise peak is still quieter than my desktop on idle (My gaming PC is very loud. During gaming it sounds 3/4 as loud as a hoover due to not using liquid cooling and heavy overclocks + one fan is a Noctura 3k RPM Fan which is known to be loud) So as a standard noise to me this is extremely quiet, footsteps are louder. However people have different noise opinions when it comes to loudness so I'll just say its alot quieter than the PS3. #Added 15/03/15 - Also forgot to mention that the PS4 vibrates and does make some noise (nothing unreasonable of course) when the disc drive is in use however when it turns off the console is next to silent. Features? - Less technical now shall i say. The PS4 offers a lot of new features. Its using an OS called "Orbis OS" I must say the new user interface is some what of an improvement over the PS3's XMB Crossbar interface. Overall more fluent and certainly easier access to social media. It is possible to multitask during gameplay too unlike on the PS3. The interface is also customisable. The PS4's DualShock 4 Controller offers a new share button, a touch pad, a built in motion sensor, mono audio speaker and touch controls. Also the quality feels some what stronger and more sturdy as to the PS3's DualShock 3 Controller. DualShock 4 also uses a micro-USB, All the same buttons as the the PS3's Controller but with an added Share button. Options button has Select and Start merged. There is a light bar with colours to measure battery life, and can be used with the Playstation camera. The light bar isn't just for show by the way. It changes colour during in game situations for example. In Tomb Raider, when you light up a torch it turns bright red. The battery is a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1000mAh (1210mAh less than the PS Vita's Battery, 200mAh less than the PSP Slims) You get approx about 7 hours of battery life before having to recharge. The Share feature lets you "share" your gameplays as video content or even screenshots just by pressing that share button (P.S. This is the best feature for me since i have an addiction of spamming Screenshots of my favorite Final Fantasy or Video game characters during PC gaming - getting video content is a huge bonus, i might need to upgrade to a 2TB HDD just for this.) You can also stream your gameplay just like everyone else does on Twitch with PC games. (Gaining popularity is a pain, so unfortunately just an added attraction for people) The thing is so great it lets me edit the clips too using the "SHAREFactory" app. I don't know if you got a PS Vita but I do. Lets me do Remote Play over Wifi so if i am feeling lazy instead of sitting at my PC desk i just play the PS4 on my PS Vita in bed. HUGE Bonus. Due to being accustomed to cheap games on sale on Steam for PC I also like the idea of how you can get some games on both the PS4 and PS Vita for just one price. Somewhat like a bargain. PS Vita can be used as a controller as well. Voice Control. Personally i find this very tedious and useless just like in all other mobiles. Though I guess its fun to play with for a bit. Many other apps such as Twitch, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, iPlayer, Netflix etc... Personally i don't use these at all thanks to my PC. Though the apps are optimised for easy use on the console. But if there isn't something you're looking for you can just use the internet browser implemented on the console. The PS4 browser uses a WebKit based web browser. (Improvement over PS3's browser which uses NetFront) WebKit is the same stuff which is used to make Google Chrome, and Apple's Safari. Which excels in HTML5 making it the best out of all the consoles. Unfortunately PS4 does not support flash player. Due to no backward compatibility (Hardware and reducing cost) , Sony has attempted to counter this with a "PlayStation Now" cloud-based service which offers certain titles on PS3 to be played on the PS4 via active internet connection. Though I don't know how this will perform on slower internets. I have not used this feature yet. So I can't give any experiences on lag etc... Can't forget that the PS4 is pretty much a blu-ray player too. The successor of DVDs. Irrelevant to non-PC gamers however thanks to using computer like hardware in consoles. This will allow developers to make better and easier optimisation to Console Ports for PCs. Thus improving the overall gaming industry. PS4 is region free just like the PS3 so you can get a game from the US or Japan and it will work in your PAL/EU Console. However DLCs won't due to law etc... An example will be a Japan game will only work with Japanese DLCs. Not too sure about multiplayer. You can still copy your game saves on to USB! Useful if you fancy going around a mates house or something. There is a standby mode as well which you can still download games with. Ultimate power saving feature. #Added 09/03/15 - Basically on this mode the PS4 leaves a yellow standby light line on the top side of the PS4 as opposed to no light when properly turned off. On this mode the PS4 makes no sound as if it was off. Only difference is that its like in a hibernated state, the stuff you was doing is stored on to the RAM so then you can continue the downloads you was running in this mode. So if you're downloading a game and you want to leave the house. This is the best time to shove it on standby mode to allow the game to download in a very low power consumption state. Also you can charge your controller during this state so you can download your game and fully charge the controller in preparation for when you arrive back home to continue gaming. One of my top prefered features for sure. *What's in the box* PS4 Console Unit DualShock 4 Controller Mono Headset Cords and cables, Standard AC Cable, USB Cable for charging the controller and a HDMI for the TV. Instructions and Manuals *Summary* Great for value console. Definitely exceeded my standards for the "best bang for buck". I extremely like the design of the PS4's case. The glossy finish black on the topside of the PS4 and how the console is shaped. Very attractive and space saving "computer" shall i say :) Definitely performs better than its price offered. I can assure you that graphical wise you won't find anything prebuilt from another company offering this much power. (System Builder for Desktops for over a decade) The AMD's HD 7850/7870 graphics cards was the best for value in 2013 offering decent performance at an affordable price. They was capable of running PC games on high to max during those days. At the very worst PC games was ran at medium high, 1080p for those cards. So i can assure you you're getting your money's worth from the PS4 from a technical perspective. Don't be put off by the lack of games which was out for the consoles. The game Developers are much more familiar with working on a PC x86/64 based hardware. Consoles moving on the PC like hardware is to show attraction to developers so that more games will be created on the consoles. So expect many many more attractive games to arrive on to the market to the PS4. Thank you for your time and reading my review, It took me about 3 and a half hours or so to write this up. My aim was to inform you, the readers of what exactly is the PS4, what it contains inside the console, and what it is capable of doing. Making sure you get the full description of what the PlayStation 4 actually is.